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You may find this hard to believe, but prior to listening to this compilation the whole electro house phenomenon had completely passed me by. My particular ‘fetish’, for want of a better word, is ‘progressive’. I had previously heard numerous progressive sets from Chris Fraser, but it’s been a few years since our paths last crossed. I therefore thought this the perfect opportunity to acquaint myself with an unknown genre via the talents of a DJ who has always delivered for me.
Chris starts off with a messy funk-fuelled track called beeper that has one of the nastiest and instantly likeable bass lines I’ve come across in some time – shame about the highly infuriating lyrical content. But there’s enough happening from the start to have me intrigued as to where this is heading. If the opening track had a fast pace, then the second track almost took my breath away – it contained a high intensity trance element that had me questioning where this mix was heading. Being a fan of progressive music, I’m used to slow starts that make you look like a Falun Gong convert when dancing to them. No such issue here – but I found myself worrying that Chris would be heading into hard trance territory if he kept building the pace like this!
I’m also used to progressive’s longer tracks, with clever layered mixing that can sometimes take some time to switch from one track to the next. However with electro house, on this mix at least, it seems that tracks change frequently and they also contain quite a lot of variety which certainly helps to keep things interesting. This diversity in track selection keeps the listener engaged as there’s never long to wait for a change to occur, but it seems to me that the flow of the mix suffers somewhat from erratic changes.
But this is really just a minor drawback as what the mix lacks in cohesion it more than makes up for in music quality. The version of Domino Dancing that Chris has selected is a particular favourite of mine and I absolutely love the intensity of Chris’s own remix of Thou Shalt Always kill. I just have to remember not to listen to this when I’m driving as the temptation to develop a leaden right foot is just too great!
Chris keeps the track changes coming thick and fast, but in spite of the hectic opening sequence, he never allows the first mix to gain too much pace. He has inserted enough troughs to allow for some great build-ups, and the tempo bubbles along at a pace suited to dancing in a club environment. If only Chris had resisted the urge to include so many tracks with awful lyrics, because they really grate on the nerves at times… I mean who writes this stuff?
If the first mix started at 100 miles per hour, then the second disc catches me completely off balance by starting with a far more leisurely pace. In fact, the first two tracks appear to meander in a lost fashion. They’re not electro house tracks so I can’t determine their purpose. Yes, they’re quite lovely, but they’re different enough from each other that mixing them is really obvious. I could understand it more if they were used as intro tracks on the first disc but placed where they are they stick out like a sore thumb. Throughout the 2 mixes, Chris appears to have chosen a number of favourite or possibly even crowd-pleasing tracks rather than tracks that create a coherent listening experience. Well at least that’s how it appears to an old chin-stroking pedant like me!
But if Chris’s choice of programming doesn’t overly impress me, the thing that does impress is the fifth track on the second side, one of Chris’s own remixes F is For. When I first heard it, I stopped and took notice and I have to admit that it’s probably the main reason I relished listening to this mix – I loved it that much! It has an energy and sense of fun that is so refreshing. In fact the fresh energy and sense of fun is the main thing that strikes me about electro house. When people are enjoying themselves, it’s almost impossible not to get swept away with that feeling yourself.
Progressive has always been my passion, but it can be too introspective and serious at times; that’s not a criticism you can level at Chris’s choice of music here. This mix is all about exuberance, having fun, and not caring what people think. One of the lamest and most overused lyrics in the universe in my opinion is “throw your hands in the air like you just don’t care,” and while I hate the lyric, the sentiment is perfect for this music. Electro house is all about being young and full of energy and living life in the moment and I love it for that!
Hedonism isn’t supposed to be cerebral and this music is pure hedonism – so who cares if most of the lyrics appear to be randomly selected words from the Christmas card-making room of the nearest mental asylum. My advice is: stop thinking, enjoy the moment, and dance like a lunatic instead. At the very least, you’ll look like you had a hand in writing the lyrics!
